The CAC Fine Art Gallery Presents
Estes Park Legends & Lore IV
July 16 - August 1, 2010

In the tradition of previous exhibitions, the Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park Fine Art Gallery opens the fourth annual Estes Park Legends & Lore on Friday July 16, 2010.

This annual summer exhibition celebrates the lives and work of artists who made significant contributions to the evolution of the Estes Park art scene. Estes Park Legends & Lore IV will focus on the work of the late artists Fred Payne Clatworthy (sepia/silver photographic prints), hand colored Clatworthy photographs by Cheryl Pennington (modern reproductions), Herb Thomson (watercolor and drawings), Alfred Wands (oil painting, serigraphs and drawings), Robert Wands (oil painting, giclee prints) and an encore presentation of Lyman Byxbe’s works ((aquatint and etched prints). The exhibition includes art and artifacts from the collections of Cheryl Pennington, Rosa Thomson, Robert Wands, KC Benson and Dave Tanton/Old Estes. Some of the art collections will be available for sale, including original works by Clatworthy, Byxbe, Thomson, both Wands and hand the hand-colored Clatworthy photographic prints by Pennington. Note cards, books and other items will also be available for sale.

‘It is always a pleasure and honor to work with time honored artists and their work”, explains Lynda S. Vogel CAC director adding, “The Estes Valley is rich with cultural heritage and history. The goal of the Arts Council annual exhibition is to share the traditions, stories and art of local artists’ current and past, so the legends and lore will continue to foster and grow with audiences of all ages”.

Estes Park Legends & Lore IV will open with a public reception on Friday July 16 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Musical entertainment will be provided by Scott Wilseck on the CAC’s 1930 Baldwin Grand Piano. Wilseck will perform a selection of western, ragtime and honk-tonk music. Refreshments will be served. Reception donors include Nicky’s Steakhouse on the River and The Other Side Restaurant.

Support for Estes Park Legends & Lore IV was provided, in part, by contributions from Steve and Heidi Todd, Estes Village Properties/Coldwell Banker, the Sandra Wilson Memorial Fund, Mike Oline, and Mike and Lynda Vogel.

The CAC Fine Art Gallery is located at 423 W. Elkhorn Ave. on the west end of downtown Estes Park. Gallery hours are 12 noon to 5:00 PM daily. There is no admission to view the exhibition. Estes Park Legends & Lore IV will run through Sunday August 1, 2010. For more information call 970-586-9203 or e-mail:info@estesarts.com. The Cultural Arts Council is 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts agency with a mission to enhance the quality and accessibility of visual and performing arts for people of all ages, and is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2010.

Artist Biographies:

FRED PAYNE CLATWORTHY (b. 1875-1953) Fred Payne Clatworthy was born in Ohio. While in his early twenties, he took a cross-country bicycle trip from Chicago to California, passing through Estes Park on his way. In 1905 he returned to settle here for good. Clatworthy was a self-taught photographer and a regular contributor to National Geographic magazine. He was known for his work with the Lumiere Autochrome, which was the first really successful color photographic process. Clatworthy’s Estes Park studio, which he called Ye Lyttel Shop, sold hand-colored photographs and Western items. In addition to traveling the country and lecturing on the autochrome process and completing his assignments for National Geographic, he was involved in the local Estes art scene, exhibiting works of other photographers and painters at his studio. Clatworthy’s gorgeous color photos document the Western U.S. as well as Mexico, New Zealand, and Hawaii.

HERB THOMSON (b. 1926 – 2001)

Herb Thomson was born in 1926 in Leadville, CO. After an enlistment in the Navy in 1944 during World War II, Thomson attended Denver University and pursued his interest in art and to obtain a teaching certificate. After graduation in 1950 he worked at Autrey Brothers Engravers, where he learned to use the etching press and made architectural drawings of high school buildings for graduation announcements. He married Rosa Witsell in 1951.

In the early 1950's Thomson moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he was employed by Mountain Bell and began to take watercolor lessons at William Schimmel’s Studio.

In 1958, he was employed as an art teacher at Free Junior High School in Pueblo, CO, and began summering in Estes Park at the Elkhorn Lodge. he began his love affair with Rocky Mountain National Park, and began laying the ground work for his school of drawing and painting.

In 1962, Thomson devoted himself full-time to a career as an artist in Estes Park, CO; living in a small brown house for its view of the mountains. He and his family renovated and improved the house over the years.

The Turkey Creek Gallery in Denver and Red Door Gallery in Pueblo began to feature Thomson in one and two-man shows. He and his former teacher, Bill Schimmel opened the first Estes Park School of Art. He also served as “camp” artist at the YMCA of the Rockies [currently known as the Estes Park Center/YMCA of the Rockies], where he lectured and taught for many years.

In the 1970’s, Thomson shared a gallery in the Timberline on Highway 7 with another popular Estes Park artist, Dorothy Carnine Scott.

In 1977 he built his own studio adjacent to his home located near Highway 34.

During his life in Estes Park, Herb Thomson was active in many community organizations, serving as president of the Rotary Club, served as a member of the Estes park School Board and the Vestry of Saint Bartholomew Episcopal Church. He also gave one of his original watercolor paintings to a deserving Park School District “Teacher of the Year” and an “Outstanding Graduate Art Student”.

In 2001, Herb Thomson’s final works were commissioned by the Helping Hand Committee to use on the Town of Estes Park’s annual Christmas tree ornaments. Helping Hands provides assistance for long-term residents with special medical needs, and the sale of the tree ornaments provided financial support.

Thomson’s art adorned the ornaments in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, a scholarship fund for a deserving Estes Park High School graduate, was also a beneficiary from the proceeds.

The four paintings commissioned by Helping hands were Thomson’s last paintings. Shortly afterward, Herb Thomson died.

Herb Thomson’s life was filled with three significant qualities. He was an artist with a special feeling for the beauty of nature, a great teacher of art and a passion to share it with others and he held a close relationship to the presence of God with his deep spirituality.

During the exhibition, the Cultural Arts Council will have the complete set of scrapbooks compiled by Herb's wife Rosa Thomson on hand for the public to enjoy and reminisce.

A limited number of original paintings and drawings will available for sale in addition to notecards featuring his watercolors of the Rockies.

CHERYL PENNINGTON (b. 1947 - )

Cheryl Pennington moved to the Estes Park area in 1978. Upon retiring from her career as a teacher, she began to pursue her interest in black and white photography. She began printing her own pictures and hand coloring them. She uses Marshall Oils and pencils to color the photographs. She enjoys scenic and nature photography.

Cheryl also re-photographs and prints historic photos from the Northern Colorado front range area. She prints the pictures in black and white and then hand colors the black and white image with photo oils and pencils.

Historically, many black and white photos were hand colored before the advent of color film. Barbara Clatworthy Gish, daughter of historic photographer Fred Payne Clatworthy, has given Cheryl permission to hand color many of her father’s historic images which will be on display in this exhibition.

ALFRED JAMES WANDS (b. 1904-1998)

Alfred James Wands was born in Cleveland, Ohio on February 19, 1904. Raised in Cleveland, he graduated from the Cleveland Art Institute with honors. He then spent time in Paris, France studying at the Academie Julian. He also studied in Brussels, Munich, and at Western Reserve University. After his travels in Europe he returned to teach at the Cleveland Art Institute and the Cleveland Museum of Art. During this period he had multiple works accepted into the Carnegie Institute's International Exhibits.

Three years after this time period, he and his wife Dorothy, moved to Denver, Colorado where he became the Head of the Art Department of Colorado Women's College. He taught there for seventeen years. A few years after moving to Denver he became the daily hunting and fishing writer for the "Rocky Mountain News". He also published a very popular art instructional book entitled "How To Paint Mountains". In 1930 Wands discovered the painting community of Taos, New Mexico. He would spend the next eleven summers there. He became friends with, and painted with, many of the famous Taos artists of that period.

By 1943 he had become the Camp Artist at the YMCA of the Rockies, where he taught summer art classes. He later became the Chairman of their Religious Programs and Adult Advisory Committees. By 1947 he had quit his teaching position at the Colorado Woman's College to devote full time to his painting. He was successful from the start. By 1955 he opened his own Studio and Gallery in Estes Park, Colorado. From the early 1950's he could be found spending his winters painting along the California Coast, and in Mexico. He spent many winters during the 1950's in Carmel, California painting images of the Monterey Peninsula.

In 1965, when the Rocky Mountain National Park was reclaiming park lands, Wands purchased the pro shop at Steads Ranch golf course and turned it into his studio and gallery. In 1995, along with his son Robert, he opened a gallery in downtown Estes Park. Known as the "Dean of Colorado Landscape Painters", he served three times as the President of the Denver Artists Guild. He was the Chairman of the Denver Art Commission for 16 years. Wands was a long-time member of the Denver Artists Guild and the Denver Art Commission. He was also a member of the Cleveland Society of Artists, Ohio Watercolor Society, and Chicago Galleries Association. While spending winters in Carmel he was chosen as an Artist Member of the Carmel Art Association.

Wands exhibited at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland School of Art, Denver Art Museum, Denver Artist's Guild, Western Arts Association, Carmel Art Association, International Watercolor Annual Exhibition, Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Chicago Art Institute, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, and the Sangre De Cristo Art Center, to name a few. In 1939 he participated in the New York World's Fair. He was an award winner in many of the venues in which his works were exhibited.

His works are in the permanent collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Palace of Legion of Honor in San Francisco, Kansas City Art Institute, Museum of Arts and Sciences in Brooklyn, New York, Colorado Springs Art Center, Western Reserve University, Denver University, Denver Public Schools, Sangre De Cristo Art Center, and University of Southern Colorado, to name a few.

Alfred Wands died on October 27, 1998 in Sequim, Washington. Until his death, at the age of 94, he was active in the Olympic Camera Club and the Sequim Art Club.

ROBERT WANDS (1939 - )

Robert Wands was born June 1939 in Denver, Colorado. He won a scholarship to the University of Denver and graduated with his Master's Degree in 1963. Robert also completed one year of graduate work at Western Reserve University and advanced study at the University of Colorado.

Robert won First Prize in 1962 at the Cleveland Institute of Art; Honorable Mention at the Missouri Valley Exhibition in 1963; Purchase Prize at the Colorado State Fair Exhibition in 1965; the Purchase Prize, Blossom Festival in 1967.

It was noted during his competitions that, "Robert's work, while modern, is derived from natural forms and is beautiful in color and design. These paintings are creative works that are extremely pleasing. He is a good craftsman and technician."

Also, from the Rocky Mountain News concerning the 12th Annual Exhibition, Metropolitan Denver: "One of the most attention-grabbing abstracts of the show is "Oriental Backlash" by Robert Wands, which employs Far Eastern calligraphy spun into active swirls of color".

Robert taught one year for the University of Denver then began teaching in the art department of Southern Colorado State College in Pueblo in September 1963.

Robert, his wife Carol, and their two daughters, Cassie and Kirby, made Pueblo their home, enjoying summers in Estes Park.

In 1996, Robert retired as Professor Emeritus of Art from the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo.

As a young man, Robert studied with his father, Alfred Wands. By the time he was twelve, the young Wands was attending his father's adult classses at the YMCA of the Rockies - Estes Park, and helping the other students when his father was busy.

Robert could work in almost all media, including oils, pastels and watercolors, by the time he got to high school.

Robert and his father, Alfred, shared their passion as artists. Robert and Alfred presented Father and Son Shows for the Art Center of Estes Park, 1988; Bank Western, Denver in 1985; Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, Pueblo in 1984; University of Northern Colorado, Greeley in 1984.

In 1995, Robert and Alfred opened Wands Gallery in the Courtyard on Virginia Dr., in downtown Estes Park.

In 1996, the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center added Robert's "Lake Louise", oil on canvas, 48" x 66", to their permanent collection, made possible by the Snyder Acquisition Fund.

Robert is listed in Who's Who in the West and Who's Who in American Art. Today Robert Wands keeps the family studio gallery on the High Drive area open to visitors each summer. It is tour stop # 12 on the Summer Art Walk.

LYMAN BYXBE (b. 1886—1980)

Lyman Byxbe was born in Pittsfield, Illinois and taught himself to draw at an early age. He achieved success as a commercial artist in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also learned the art of printmaking from architect Mark Levings. Byxbe first came to Estes Park as a summer visitor and by 1930 had a flourishing summer studio which created etchings of local cabins for Christmas cards and similar items for the tourist trade. By the mid-thirties he was receiving national attention and was accepted to the Chicago Society of Etchers. After his one-man show at the Smithsonian in 1937-38, his reputation was set. He moved permanently to Estes Park in 1938 and set up a shop on Elkhorn Avenue, which he ran for many years. The majority of his available works are small etchings he created for visiting tourists of scenes in and around the Estes Valley. He sold them for very little, saying “I have set my prices according to their pocket-books”. Byxbe worked primarily in aquatint, drypoint, and etching, but also did the occasional piece in mezzotint, conte crayon, oil, pencil, and watercolor. Larger etchings and paintings are quite valuable today and difficult to find.

Several of the featured artists share an association with teaching at the YMCA of the Rockies at Estes Park, Colorado.

Alfred Wands in 1942 went to Rocky Mountain National Park, the Estes Park area, and then to the YMCA Camp of the Rockies to paint for two weeks. While he was there, Harper Gleason, the director of the camp, came to him. He had heard Wands was an artist and wanted to know if he would be interested in teaching classes the next summer. Wands said, “No, I teach all winter. I don’t want to teach in the summer.” Before Wands left, Mr. Gleason said, “Hey, you don’t need to teach all the time, how about three mornings a week? You would have the rest of the time to paint. You would share in some of the tuition fees and we will give you a cabin for the rest of the summer.” After consideration, Wands accepted the job. After the WWII gas was rationed, so people didn’t drive all over the country. Visitors to the YMCA would rent a cabin and stay for a month or even all summer. Wands taught a class of fifteen to twenty people, mostly amateurs, but a few students had some experience. Wands was called upon to give a lecture on art at one of the evening sessions. In preparation of that lecture, he decided that possibly the best thing to do was to make inquiry of some of the students as to why they were painting. Some gave the usual answer—I always thought it would be interesting to try. Others had a little bit of experience and said they wanted to improve their ability if they could. "I went to Mr. Koller, a professional cook in Detroit, Michigan, who had been with me the summer before", states Alfred Wands adding, "He had spent two weeks of his vacation painting in Colorado the previous year and had returned to do the same. I asked, “Mr. Koller, why are you painting? At first he did not respond, so I repeated my question. He looked up to me and said, to do something lasting”.

Robert Wands shares his thoughts on teaching at the YMCA "I was Artist in Residence at the YMCA of the Rockies from 1974 through 1979 were I taught the adult painting classes. A college student was hired each year to be his assistant for the summer, often a art major. The assistant would teach the children's classes and would help sell art supplies and keep the gallery open when Robert was out with a class. The lesson's were all in watercolor and the adult classes were outdoors anywhere on the "Y" grounds or often in the national park. I would talk about composition and give a quick demonstration before the class would begin painting. Individual help would be followed by a critique. Because the camp offered many activities and programs for the guest with in their one week vacation, the class participants changed frequently. So seeing student advancement in skills was seldom observed. The art studio was in a great location during my time at the "Y". It was located on the ground floor of the Administration Building. There were windows on one side and good overhead lighting throughout. There was a sink and storage room plus lots of large work tables. After Robert left, this space became the conference registration and check in location".

Herb Thomson was "Camp Artist" at the "Y" for many years. His wife Rosa has loaned the Cultural Arts Council several detailed scrapbooks spanning Herb's personal and artistic life. In the section dedicated to teaching is a hand-typed outline for a class at the YMCA. It reads, "Treat yourself to a drawing and painting vacation in a restful and friendly environment. Improve your skills as you take part in the informal classes exploring many basic principles of drawing and painting. A wealth of graphic subjects await us as we hold many classes on location ... enabling us to observe and interpret directly" - Herb Thonson, 1982

Herb Thomson taught and loved sharing his talents throughout his career. He opened the Estes Park School of Art with his former teacher Bill Schimmel from Arizona during the years 1963 to 1966. He was the "Camp Artist" at the YMCA every summer for 14 years, and taught classes five days a week and offered Sunday evening demonstrations. Thomson also taught weekend seminars for many years for the Rocky Mountain Nature Association.